Game 33: Yankees win 8-2

The Yankees, led by the top of the order once again, came back from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat the Mariners 8-2 at Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon. With the victory, they swept the three-game series against the Mariners.

The Yankees' top four hitters - Johnny Damon (2-5), Derek Jeter (4-5, one RBI), Bobby Abreu (3-4, one RBI) and Hideki Matsui (2-4, two RBI) went a combined 11-18 and drove in four runs and scored six runs.

Darrell Rasner (1-0), starting in place of injured Phil Hughes, gave up a two-out Adrian Beltre two-run home run in the first inning to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

After that, he settled down for the most part, and held the Mariners scoreless for the rest of his start. In six innings, he allowed two earned runs and five hits. He struck out four and didn't walk anyone while throwing 76 pitches for 49 strikes.

The Yankees broke the game open in the bottom of the third inning when they were able to score six runs. Damon and Jeter started the inning with singles. Jeter's single advanced Damon to third because he was running on the 3-2 count. Abreu then singled home Damon and advanced Jeter to third. Matsui followed with an opposite-field ground-rule double to score Jeter and move Abreu over to third. Jason Giambi hit a sacrifice fly to the left-field warning track to score Abreu to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Melky Cabrera then hit a two-run home run, his sixth of the year, to give the Yankees a 5-2 lead. Robinson Cano followed with a solo home run to right field to top off the Yankees' six-run inning. That was Cano's only hit of the day.

They pushed across two more runs in the fourth inning. Damon led off with a single and stole second and then scored on a Jeter ground-rule double to right. Carlos Silva, the Mariners' starter, was then pulled for Ryan Rowland-Smith, who later allowed a Matsui RBI single.

Silva's line wasn't pretty. In three innings, he allowed 11 hits and eight earned runs. He struck out one batter and allowed two home runs.

After the fourth, there was no more scoring. Ross Ohlendorf, Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera each pitched one scoreless inning to close out the game. Rivera has now pitched 13 scoreless innings to start the season.

The Yankees are now one game above .500 at 17-16. After an off-day tomorrow, they will open up a three-game series at home against the Cleveland Indians. Andy Pettitte will face Fausto Carmona in a rematch of Game 2 of the 2007 ALDS.

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)